place of the nation in the history of the world at large, was hardly raised before the Exile. Jeremiah hinted that Jerusalem should be the gathering-place of the nations, and that the peoples of the earth should bless themselves in Yahweh (Jer. 3:17; 4:2). The nations were moved about by the will of Yahweh (Amos 9:7). He brought the Assyrians against Ephraim as the instruments of divine retribution (Isa. 8:7-8). Yet the earlier prophets were so close to Hebrew history that they did not get a wide outlook upon it; and so they did not clearly state a philosophy of it.

But the Exile made it possible to look at Hebrew history on a broader background. With the Captivity there came a wider perspective. New vistas of spiritual insight now opened before the eyes of the prophets. It slowly became clear that the national experience had a universal meaning. So Ezekiel writes: "Not for your sake do I work, saith the lord Yahweh.

. . Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel! I work not for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name" (Ezek. 36:22, 32). Ezekiel's doctrine of the name stands in logical connection with his fiery celestial chariot. The God of Glory, who rides in the center of the awful vision that haunts the prophet, is working forward through the complex process of world-history with a moral purpose.

The national god of Israel at length became the Redeemer of Mankind. The idea of God, steadily developing in response to the pressure of the social problem, was becoming more and more fit to stand at the center of a world-religion. The Exile enlarged the spiritual horizon of the Hebrews, and suggested new ideas to the finer and more thoughtful minds among them. The national downfall confirmed the prophets in the habit of reading the events of history in the light of a divine purpose.

1 A similar prediction is common to the books of Micah and Isaiah (Mic. 4:1-3; Isa. 2:2-4); but this may be post-exilic.

The relation of Yahweh to Israel was now made subordinate, or incidental, to the larger salvation of the world.

Behold my Servant, whom I sustain-my Chosen, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth mishpat to the nations. A cracked reed he shall not break, and the dimly burning wick he shall not extinguish. He shall faithfully bring forth mishpat. He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set mishpat in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law (Isa. 42:1-4).

The mighty outlines of the gospel of redemption thus came slowly but surely into view. Yahweh will make his holy name known throughout all the earth, in order that mankind shall be redeemed from sin, and released from the shackles of injustice. Israel was the instrument through which this purpose was to be accomplished. Only thus, by deep and bitter experience, was the human mind prepared to entertain the idea of God as a moral person whose field of work is all history.'

The conquest of Babylonia by the Persians awoke the prophecy of return from Captivity. The interpretation of history in the light of an overshadowing divine plan is illustrated by the remarkable prophecy of Israel's release from Exile. A great army from the northeast, led by Cyrus, king of Persia, was descending upon Babylon; and as the mighty host rolled onward, a message of cheer was given to the captives: "I have raised up one from the north; and he is come-from the rising of the sun one that calleth on my name. And he shall come upon rulers as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. Cyrus [the king of Persia] is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid" (Isa. 41:25; 44:28). At last, after many years, the Captivity is to be broken; and the exiles may return. "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people saith your God. Speak to the heart of "In the Exile, Israel's religion had attained its maturity. Virtually no more growth can be observed in it.”—Davidson, Theology of the Old Testament (New York, 1904), p. 137.

Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her time of service is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of Yahweh's hand double for all her sins" (Isa. 40:1-2; cf. Jer. 16:18). At length Israel is to return across the wilderness to the home land. The prophet speaks in a figurative way about the journey through the desert: "The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Yahweh! Make level in the desert a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled up; and every mountain and hill be made low; and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places plain" (Isa. 40:3-4).1

The conception of Yahweh as Redeemer took form around the idea of the "goel."-While the biblical idea of God grew up on the lines of the social process through which the Hebrew nation passed, the God-idea took on its final form around one of the most beautiful figures in Hebrew life. The goel,, was a man who (among other offices) "redeemed," or "bought free," a needy relative who had been sold into slavery through debt (Levi. 25:48, 49). The goel-idea was applied to Yahweh by the later Old Testament prophets. Yahweh would redeem Israel from the Captivity (Jer. 50:33, 34; Isa. 43:14). He would redeem Jerusalem (Isa. 52:3). The tradition of a dramatic rescue from an Egyptian bondage now began to take shape (Exod. 6:6; 15:13, etc.). Yahweh was the Savior and Redeemer (Isa. 60:16). He ransomed his people from the power of death and the grave (Hos. 13:14). He also redeems the individual from destruction, or "the pit"; and he executes mishpat, or "judgment," for all that are oppressed (Ps. 103:4; Lam. 3:58). As a compassionate goel, Yahweh became the Redeemer of mankind.

We have made selections indicating the drift and the historic atmosphere of this remarkable prophecy; but the opening chapters of the exilic Isaiah should be read entire (beginning at chap. 40) in order to get their exalting stimulus.

CHAPTER XXI

THE JEWISH CHURCH AND THE TORAH

In the post-exilic epoch, Judah was reconstituted under foreign authorities. On the political, or secular, side of history, the outstanding fact of the post-exilic age is the re-establishment of Judah. The Judeans, or "Jews," were the remnant of the old Hebrew, or Israelite, kingdom. The characteristic figure in the political rehabilitation of Judah is, of course, Nehemiah. This man was a wealthy Jew, attached to the Persian imperial court. Judah had been already marked off as a province of the empire; and Nehemiah was one of a succession of governors appointed to rule it under the authority of Persia. He is identified with the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. This achievement is a fitting symbol of his relation to Judaism; for he gave a strong impetus to the tendency to segregate the Jewish people in distinction from the heathen peoples of the ancient world. The following quotation gives an interesting glimpse at the reconstructive process, and suggests the economic and social position of Nehemiah and the leaders of Judaism.

From the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. But the former governors that were before me were chargeable unto the people, and took of them bread and wine, at the rate of forty shekels of silver. Yea, even their servants bare rule over the people. But so did not I, because of the fear of God. Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall. Neither bought we any

This chapter with those that follow, like the rest of our sociological study, is not an investigation of details. For the treatment of events it is necessary to go to the many excellent historical works now available.

land. And all my servants were gathered thither unto the work. Moreover, there were at my table, of the Jews and the rulers, a hundred and fifty men, besides those that came to us from among the nations that were round about us. Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep. Also fowls were prepared for me; and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine. Yet for all this I demanded not the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people. Remember unto me, O my God, for good, all that I have done for this people (Neh. 5:14-19).

The work of Judaism was the consolidation, or hardening, of the prophetic religion in the habits of a sufficient number of people to make it a permanent social force in the world. The reconstituted Israel became "the Jewish church"; and although the Jews often lost sight of their larger mission, or gave it a grotesque and impossible interpretation, the postexilic history is as full of broad human meaning and service as the earlier and more creative times of the great prophets.

The Jews, like other peoples, misunderstood their own past. The post-exilic Israelites imagined themselves to be of "pure," or "unmixed," racial origin. They did not understand that the Hebrew kingdom had originated at the point of coalescence between Israelites and Amorites. The real facts of Hebrew history and religion were buried in a mass of old writings which only the few had opportunity to examine; and even these few lacked the training necessary to interpret everything they read. The majority of post-exilic Jews were so taken up with the struggle for existence that they had no time for careful study and knowledge. The most the popular mind could carry was a rough averaging of past history in the form of tradition. The time before the Exile was converted into an age of supernatural wonders; and Israel took a new start amid a world laboring under difficulties and problems of its own.

The "Torah," or "Law of Moses," was compiled and adopted after the Captivity.—We have already learned that the establish